We will want more than £25million for Alex Scott – Nigel Pearson

Posted Sunday, March 12, 2023 by PA

Nigel Pearson made it clear Bristol City would want more than £25 million for midfielder Alex Scott if he was to leave Ashton Gate.

The manager was talking after seeing the highly-rated youngster net the second goal in a comprehensive victory over relegation-threatened Blackpool.

Scott netted with a low 81st-minute finish from 12 yards to build on Andreas Weimann’s superb left-footed shot, which found the top corner on 58 minutes.

Blackpool wasted a great chance to take the lead when Jerry Yates shot wide on 34 minutes and their misery was compounded by an early injury to Gary Madine.

Asked about his most valuable asset after the game, Pearson said: “So far the speculation about Alex Scott has been cooked up by journalists and agents.

“We have not received one firm offer. If we do, it will need be more than £25 million in today’s market.

“I believe Alex will play for England one day. I thought that when I first saw him in a training session and nothing since has changed my mind.

“He is a level-headed lad, who won’t be affected by reports in the press. He will play for a top club one day and it’s just a question of when.”

Of his team’s performance, Pearson added: “We thoroughly deserved to win. It was an afternoon when patience was the key.

“The team showed it after a frustrating first half. And Andi Weimann has demonstrated it in awaiting a first-team chance.

“He has not played as often as he would have liked recently because others have done so well. But he is a really good team player and his strike today was absolutely fabulous.

“We had a lot of possession, which meant we didn’t have too many chances to counter-attack, but when we did we looked dangerous.

“It was another good home performance. No one could argue with our right to the points.”

Defeat deepened Blackpool’s relegation worries and manager Mick McCarthy was frustrated with how easy Bristol City had it.

McCarthy said: “It didn’t help losing Gary Madine to injury so early. He has a brace on his knee and we can only hope it isn’t serious.

“It was a poor performance and I told the lads we had let our fans down. We were well beaten and it wasn’t good enough.

“We had a great chance to take the lead in the first half and I think missing it affected Jerry Yates’ performance.

“But as a team we have to be better. It was extremely frustrating to watch because we never got into the game.

“Normally, we make life difficult for the opposition, but today we didn’t even do that.

“I’d be interested to see the stats on duels won and tackles made because Bristol were better than us on all counts.

“Games are ticking away and what we can’t afford to do is play like we did last week when everyone was pleased with the performance and then produce this sort of display.

“We didn’t turn up today. When you are in our league position there is a shortage of confidence and belief, which makes things tough to improve.

“Some of the things we did were really disappointing. The players are trying as hard as they can and we are still coming up short.”